


Roundabout

by screamlet



Category: Bruce Coville - Rod Allbright Alien Adventures
Genre: Aliens, Community: yuletidefuckery, Domestic, Established Relationship, M/M, Missing Scene, Same-Sex Marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-24
Updated: 2009-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-05 05:09:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/screamlet/pseuds/screamlet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>None of the crew of the Ferkel expected Grakker to stay at their impromptu reunion party for more than a short time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Roundabout

**Author's Note:**

  * For [zlot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zlot/gifts).



> Set directly after "The Search for Snout".

None of the crew of the _Ferkel_ expected Grakker to stay at their impromptu reunion party for more than a short time. They all agreed they would have a bigger and more exciting gathering to unwind once Snout was recovered; Grakker stayed just long enough to hear that idea, agree, and leave for his and Snout's quarters.

 

Their shared quarters were circular, like the ship. When Grakker was commissioned as captain of the _Ferkel_, it was his right to requisition whatever he needed to make the ship his own. In true Grakker fashion, this involved a 10,000-word proposal detailing the design of the crew's quarters and the merging of the mental officer's quarters and the captain's quarters. All the rooms were to be round for optimal spacial utilization.

 

Their bed was round, too, of course, but their work area was comprised of two rectangular desks pushed against each other, facing each other, dark and utilitarian and completely out of place with the room's muted green and brown color scheme. That had been Snout's idea: to remind them that work was work and to be kept separate from everything else they shared.

 

The rest of the room was for Snout's meditation and mental concentration; if Grakker needed his own time, he preferred the exercise room, and he also had the entire run of the ship. 

 

Grakker entered the room, and the door sealed behind him.

 

"Welcome back," he said.

 

Snout sat cross-legged on the floor of his meditation area. He had stretched his neck up, his nose extended high above the rest of his body, and Grakker noticed his closed eyes. His presence didn't interrupt Snout; he had advised him through their bond that he was coming to see him, and Snout didn't object.

 

Snout seemed to smile a bit in acknowledgement, but didn't leave his meditation area or lower his head. Grakker walked over and sat down in front of Snout. He attempted, as always, to mimic the cross-legged position, but his legs were too thick for that. He folded them in front of him, closed his eyes, and relaxed, waiting for Snout.

 

"I stayed for you," Snout said eventually.

 

"I know," Grakker replied. "But you did _want_ to leave."

 

They both opened their eyes and lowered their heads to look at each other. Snout smiled and leaned forward until his nose touched Grakker's cheek, then the other cheek, and then moved against his neck in that familiar, soothing way Grakker had been without for more day cycles than he was strictly comfortable.

 

"We _are_ explorers," Snout reminded him. He backed away so they could continue their conversation without physical interference. "And I remember that entering the Galactic Patrol wasn't your first choice. It wasn't mine, either."

 

"We've made it work," Grakker said, motioning slightly to the space around them.

 

"That we have," Snout laughed. "What module does Pong have in you at the moment?"

 

"Justice, I think," Grakker said. "But yours overrides any of them." Grakker shifted his position on the floor since he was unable to keep it for very long, not like the flexible Snout. "If it happens again -- if you see or experience that other place again --"

 

"Things may be different then," Snout replied. "Now, I'm needed here. You need me, Rod needs me, to some extent the entire _universe_ needs me. If it happens again, it may be the right time for me to go."

 

"You believe the Atlantan?"

 

"Do I believe him?" Snout asked. The ambient lighting highlighted the way Snout's amusement reached his eyes, though his snout, of course, sometimes hid the corners of his smile itself. Grakker, however, knew it was there. "In that there's a time and place for everything, including… transcendence? I think we've seen too much in our time to disagree. He's certainly seen enough to provide the empirical proof you want to support the idea. And he doesn't have a reason to lie about it -- he's like us, in that way. There's no reason to hurt us. We're all galactic citizens that way."

 

_Empathy_, Grakker thought, that was what Pong had told Allbright. A united civilization rooted in empathy, caring for others as one would oneself. 

 

"I would understand if you went before me," Snout said. "And I know you would enjoy it, and every time I felt the vibrations of the universe, I'd know you would feel it, too."

 

"I'd have to check with Phil," Grakker said with the slightest smile at the corner of his mouth, "But I'm not sure that's entirely scientifically possible."

 

"Grakker," Snout said, his name like a note in some song Grakker could probably think of if his recreational module was in. There would be time for that later. "You meathead, what are you thinking about?"

 

"Very little," Grakker admitted.

 

"I think I've meditated enough for now," Snout said.

 

They stood up, Grakker stretching his limbs more than Snout had to. Snout urged Grakker to turn around and pulled Grakker's arms, stretching them out away from his body and up over his head, repeating until joints popped, Grakker groaned, and the muscles flexed actively and strongly beneath Snout's hands. He placed his hands around Grakker's neck and dug the heels of his palms into the muscles and tendons there. Grakker arched his neck to lean his head on Snout's nose and give his hands access to his dominant, sorer side, Snout obliging him with a deep rub into his shoulders. 

 

"Rest?" Snout asked after some indeterminate time like that. "I should tell you, our bed was really one of the main factors keeping me on this plane of existence."

 

"Really?"

 

"Well, did you see that _slab_ I had been on for the past several days? Incorporeal as I was, it wasn't very pleasant."

 

"Those hard surfaces are good for your back," Grakker informed him.

 

"For the backs of tough soldiers like you, Grakker, but I'm a creature of the _spirit_…"

 

Grakker pulled away from Snout's hands and turned around for the first chance to hold him properly. His arms wrapped around Snout and he pressed his face against his nose again. 

 

"It's an excellent bed," Grakker said. "We researched the standards of comfort across three star systems for optimal rest performance."

 

"What is worth having is worth working for," Snout replied, laughing. "Rest?" he asked again.

 

"Rest," Grakker agreed.


End file.
